With hundreds of students taking part in the March 24 Rachel’s Challenge program, organizers of the Links of Character event on April 25 expect a mega-person chain link of kindness and compassion.
Rachel’s Challenge is setting the stage throughout Mission Viejo for the Links of Character event during the weekend Arts Alive Festival that will include students, groups and individuals bringing paper chains with written messages of kindness and compassion to link along the Oso Creek Trail leading to the Village Green at the Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center.
The messages are born from Rachel’s Challenge, a highly acclaimed educational program inspired by the life, death and living legacy of Rachel Scott, the first student killed in the Columbine shootings in 1999. Shortly after her tragic death, Rachel’s family found an essay she wrote challenging the reader to show kindness and compassion to others and spark a chain reaction.
The March 24 event, the latest of several in the community, drew more than 320 students from six schools. The program focused on Rachel’s 5 challenges – eliminating prejudice; daring to dream; choosing positive influences; using kind words and little acts of kindness; and starting a chain reaction.
Audience members were moved to tears as they learned of this young teen’s life, untimely death and words that immortalize her legacy: “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”
The City’s Community of Character, which hosted the event, distributed paper strips for “chain links” and encouraged participants to write messages of kindness, hope and compassion. Messages such as “Each day I will try to change a life or at least give them a smile” and “I would do anything to help a person in need …” etch the links. Other touching comments included “I accept Rachel’s Challenge and through me she will live forever” and “Your messages touch my soul.”
Almost 200 strips were made into yards of paper chains for the upcoming Links of Character community-wide walk that takes place from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 25. For more information, visit www.cityofmissionviejo.org/artsalivefestival.
